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‘Yes’ vote on SSM survey supports equal access to rights for all

The decisive ‘Yes’ result in Australia’s recent same-sex marriage survey is a vindication of the importance of equal access to rights for all, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

ALA National President Laura Neil welcomed the result of today’s same-sex marriage survey, saying the government should move rapidly to legislate for marriage equality.

“This survey result is a clear statement by the Australian people in favour of equality,” Mrs Neil said.

“It is a clear mandate for federal parliament to legalise same-sex marriage as soon as possible.”

Mrs Neil said that this result was a win for the people of Australia, who overwhelmingly voted for a change that our elected representatives regretfully could not adequately represent us on. The strength of the feeling behind legalising marriage equality was sufficient for a convincing win for the ‘Yes’ vote.

“The UN Human Rights Committee recently condemned conducting a survey on a matter of human rights: ‘the Committee is of the view that resort to public opinion polls to facilitate upholding rights under the [ICCPR] in general, and equality and non-discrimination of minority groups in particular, is not an acceptable decision-making method and that such an approach risks further marginalizing and stigmatizing members of minority groups’,” Mrs Neil said.

“The ALA expects the government to move immediately to legislate for marriage equality, and that this process should not open up new avenues for discrimination.”